And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way: and the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.
When the men of Ai looked back, they saw smoke from their city rising up to the sky, and they had no way to escape in any direction. The Israelite soldiers who had pretended to flee into the wilderness now turned around and attacked their pursuers.
The writer is describing the moment when Ai's army realized they were trapped - their city was burning behind them and the Israelites they thought were fleeing had turned to fight them.
📚 Historical Context
This describes the climactic moment of Joshua's strategic victory over the city of Ai, following Israel's earlier defeat there. Joshua used a clever military tactic where part of his army pretended to flee while another group secretly entered and burned the city. This battle occurred during Israel's conquest of the Promised Land after crossing the Jordan River.
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